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A microelectrode study of triiodide diffusion coefficients in mixtures of room temperature ionic liquids, useful for dye-sensitised solar cells

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Abstract.

The diffusion coefficients of triiodide in binary mixtures of ionic liquids at 25 ± 0.05 °C were determined via steady-state cyclic voltammetry at platinum disk microelectrodes in five different electrolyte systems, all representing potential ionic liquid based electrolytes for dye-sensitised solar cells. These electrolytes were composed of iodine, 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (acting as iodide source) and a second lower viscous ionic liquid, namely 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate or 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) and were investigated either at fixed ionic liquid composition and varying iodine concentration or at fixed iodine concentration and varying 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide content. To check and optimise our measurement set-up, four Pt disk microelectrodes with four different electrode radii (0.3–5 µm) were tested at a well known system (ferrocene/tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate/acetonitrile solutions). The radius of each electrode was controlled by scanning electron microscopy at the beginning and during the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie der Universität, Regensburg, Germany

    Phillipp Wachter, Christian Schreiner, Markus Zistler & Heiner J. Gores

  2. Institut für Chemische Reaktionstechnik, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

    Dirk Gerhard & Peter Wasserscheid

Authors
  1. Phillipp Wachter
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  2. Christian Schreiner
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  3. Markus Zistler
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  4. Dirk Gerhard
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  6. Heiner J. Gores
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Correspondence to Heiner J. Gores.

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Correspondence: H. J. Gores, Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie der Universität, 93053 Regensburg, Germany

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Wachter, P., Schreiner, C., Zistler, M. et al. A microelectrode study of triiodide diffusion coefficients in mixtures of room temperature ionic liquids, useful for dye-sensitised solar cells. Microchim Acta 160, 125–133 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-007-0803-2

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